Abstract:

University-industry (UI) collaboration is a key driver of innovation, which is vital for economic growth of regions and nations. The value of this collaboration has motivated the founding of a variety of organizations that mediate and ease this collaboration, called intermediary organizations.

As perceptions affect the decision making of individuals, understanding the perceptions of these key personnel provides understanding into how they make decisions regarding their collaboration. This thesis studies managerial perceptions of key personnel in UI-collaborations that are mediated by intermediary organizations.

The first phase of study probes what key personnel in mediated UI-collaboration perceive to be the success factors of their collaboration. The first phase results in four perceived key success factors: (1) Networks (2) Knowhow and experience, (3) Shared understanding of goals and processes, and (4) openness

Existing literature has noted the importance of intermediary organizations in UI-collaboration and the value of openness in the same context. However, there is little integrating research on how the managers of these organizations might perceive the key concept of openness. The second phase of this thesis consists of a publication that addresses this research gap, and suggests a framework for managers’ perceptions of openness in the context of mediated university-industry collaboration. The framework suggests four main ways managers perceive openness.

The first way is to perceive openness as driven by managing the relationship, such as by investment in long-term collaboration. The second way suggests managers perceive openness as being driven by bringing people together, such as cherishing face-to-face meetings and building spaces where people can meet.

The third way suggests managers perceive openness as a driver of co-creation of knowledge. The fourth way suggests managers perceive that openness also supports other beneficial results of the collaboration, such as in a case where benefits of sharing ideas in a business incubator was perceived to outweigh the risks of the idea leaking out.Yliopistojen ja yritysten välinen yhteistyö on olemassa olevan kirjallisuuden perusteella voimakas tekijä innovaatioiden synnyssä, jolla on suuri vaikutus alueiden ja valtioiden taloudelliseen kasvuun. Tätä yhteistyötä tukemaan on perustettu lukuisia erilaisia välittäjäorganisaatioita, joiden toimenkuvana on helpottaa tätä yhteistyötä.